view from above and below

130 W. 30th St.

Is the view different from the top?

It almost seems like another city at this altitude, looking over a landscape dotted with old and squat watertowers perched on their launching pads and rectangular mechanical units sitting over asphalt roofs. And it feels like the last hundred years is still standing here motionless.

I prefer the view from below. 10th Ave. at 35th St.

There are only a few places you can get a wide angle view of the city, such as from the west side near 10th Ave. where the freeway cuts a swath through the city. It's a side that's worn and industrial looking but also shows the changing skyline as new buildings go up.

Looking out from the street it's always interesting - you see people jostling through the crowds and checking each other out and with all the commotion in the city there's always something to catch your eye and then something else to distract you. Walking up to the skyscrapers you think it's so much taller than you imagined, for me it's still hard not to stop and stare into the sky.

Even though the views from up high are breath-taking when I look down sometimes I feel afraid that I might fall. I'll take the view from the ground level because I would rather be looking up.